Congratulations, families of college graduates! Your students have turned their tassels and thrown their caps. Some graduates already have a job lined up. Others know what sort of job they want but are still applying. Many aren’t sure how to start looking, if they even feel comfortable getting a job right after graduation. For those new grads, a summer job can be a practical way to build experience and learn more about what they enjoy. This information can provide clarity about what comes next.
Your graduate should choose a summer experience that helps them prepare for their next position. Encourage your graduate to start with a clear goal: What do I want to achieve over the next 2–3 months?
If your graduate wants to practice workplace social communication, for example, a job in any industry would be a good fit. Learning technical skills might require a position in a specific field. Make sure the experience has a clear end date and still leaves enough time available to search for the next opportunity.
For some graduates, the goal may not be finding the perfect job right away. It may be learning about what motivates them and which work environments are a good fit.
Once your graduate knows what they want from the summer, they can choose the type of opportunity that best supports that goal.
The holy grail that meets all those criteria is a formal internship or short-term position in your graduate’s preferred field. Your graduate can find these opportunities by emailing professional mentors, working with their alma mater’s career center (which usually has services for alumni), attending an industry job fair, or searching on industry websites. These positions often have career development built into their structure, usually through networking events. However, many recent graduates will be competing for these spots, especially if it’s a paid position, so apply quickly.
If you can’t find an official job or internship, try setting up a volunteer or shadow position with a company in the field. We’ve talked about the advantages of both types of work in other posts, and an informal position can provide an opportunity to gain experience while easing the transition from college to the workplace. Your graduate will need to contact employers directly to set up these experiences.
Any short-term position in your graduate’s field is an opportunity to learn about how their next workplace might function. What is the dress code? Do people call their bosses by their first name? Where does informal networking take place? What professional societies have people joined? Informational interviews with employees can both explain the nuances of office culture and help your graduate identify job titles that fit their career goals.
Out-of-field entry-level jobs are not the ideal way to spend a summer, but your graduate can still get value from the experience if it’s planned correctly. Most traditional summer jobs, like camp counselor or food-service worker, require interacting with customers and can come with a lot of social expectations. For some autistic young adults, expectations around eye contact, smiling, small talk, reading social cues, or masking can make these roles more demanding than they first appear.
Your graduate should look for positions that would allow them to practice social communication while still leaving enough energy for the other goals they want to accomplish this summer. Once their summer job starts, your graduate must keep looking for opportunities in their field, so they need to make sure they’ll have enough energy after work for the job search; a part-time position might work best.
Job searching, networking, and preparing for a future career all require time, energy, and executive functioning. A summer position that leaves your graduate completely drained at the end of the day may make it harder to focus on those next steps.
You’re likely feeling overwhelmed by the work involved in finding productive summer experiences, and your graduate almost certainly feels the same. They’ll need your emotional support as they search for, apply to, get rejected from, and eventually are hired for a summer job.
But as young adults, they want autonomy over their career and need to develop their self-advocacy skills. You can support your graduate by asking where your assistance is needed, limiting your help to those areas, and offering reassurance that they’ll work something out.
Parents can also suggest external resources if their graduate feels overwhelmed or stuck. Your graduate may not know that career centers offer alumni services, so learn what those services are before problems arise. Professional societies often run career-development workshops that double as networking events.
Spectrum Transition Coaching offers a one-on-one Career Exploration session designed to help young adults better understand their interests, motivations, strengths, and career preferences. For graduates who are unsure what comes next, Career Exploration can provide clarity and a practical action plan for moving forward.
Keep this information in reserve for when your graduate requests it. Whether your young adult is looking for a summer job, a part-time role during the school year, or their next step after graduation, each work experience can provide valuable information and help them make more informed decisions about their future.